Tuberville announces 6 assistants

University of Cincinnati head coach Tommy Tuberville announced six of his assistant coaches and the team's strength and conditioning staff Friday.

Darin Hinshaw (passing game coordinator/quarterbacks) and Blake Rolan (wide receivers) were named to the offensive staff while Art Kaufman (defensive coordinator), John Lovett (defensive backs), Robert Prunty (associate head coach/defensive ends) and Fred Tate (defensive line) will comprise the defensive staff.

Tuberville also announced Joe Walker and former UC letterwinner Orlando Smith as director and assistant director of football strength and conditioning, respectively.

The new hires join Eddie Gran, a 26-year coaching veteran, who was named the team's offensive coordinator in late December.

"I'm pleased with the staff we have assembled so far," Tuberville said. "We have a group of excellent coaches with a wide variety of experience as well as strong recruiting ties and knowledge of Cincinnati and the Tri-State area. I'm excited to get started, finish off recruiting and prepare for spring football."

Hinshaw and Rolan spent the past three seasons at Tennessee. Hinshaw, a record-setting quarterback during his playing days at UCF, worked with the Vols' quarterbacks in 2010-11 before moving over to the wide receivers and serving as the recruiting coordinator in 2012. Rolan served as an offensive intern during that time, working closely with the offensive staff and wide receivers. Tennessee finished the 2012 campaign with 5,711 yards, ranking second in school history behind only the 5,794 registered by the 1997 squad.

The four defensive coaches all joined UC from Texas Tech where they led a remarkable turnaround. Inheriting a defense that ranked 114th in the nation in 2011, the Red Raiders finished the 2012 regular season ranked No. 39 in the NCAA FBS in total defense and led the Big 12 Conference in pass defense, surrendering only 195.8 passing yards per game.

Kaufman is a 29-year veteran with 11 years experience as a coordinator at the NCAA FBS level. The 2012 Broyles Award nominee was a former defensive coordinator at North Carolina and Mississippi, where he first worked with Tuberville. Kaufman has also has coached at Southern Miss, Middle Tennessee State, East Carolina, Arkansas Tech and Louisiana Tech.

Lovett, who has been coaching for 35 seasons, returns to Cincinnati for his second stint with the Bearcats, having served as UC's defensive coordinator from 1989-92. Lovett's career includes stints as defensive coordinator at Miami (Fla.), Bowling Green, Clemson, Auburn, Maine and Cincinnati. Lovett and head coach Tommy Tuberville first coached together at Ole Miss between 1995-1998 and then again at Auburn from 1999-2001 and at Texas Tech in 2012. He served as Tuberville's defensive coordinator at Auburn until 2001 before leaving for the same position at Clemson in 2002.

Prunty, a two-time Big 12 Conference Recruiter of the Year, helped Texas Tech put together its top-two rated recruiting classes in school history in 2011 and 2012. He was the head coach at Hargrave Military Academy from 2002-2010, coaching 27 players who would later play in the NFL.

Tate, a 16-year veteran, has had coaching stints at Marshall, Tennessee-Chatanooga, Southern Miss, East Carolina, Middle Tennessee State, Jacksonville State and Texas State. After graduating high school, he spent five years in the U.S. Army as a combat engineer. Following his service, Tate was a junior college All-American at East Central CC before finishing his career at Southern Miss, where he earned his degree in 1997.

Both Walker and Smith join the UC program from Texas Tech where Walker had spent the past three seasons and Smith the last four. Walker also spent time with the strength programs at Auburn, TCU, Kansas State and Pittsburgh.

Smith was a two-time All-Conference USA running back in the late 1990s, helping lead UC to the Humanitarian Bowl championship in 1997. He graduated from UC in 1999 with a degree in criminal justice. Before joining the Red Raiders, Smith worked previously at South Carolina, Kansas and Minnesota.

Additional staff appointments will be announced as they are finalized.